warrior
by no cure for crazy
Summary: She doesn't want easy – she doesn't want things handed to her. She wants to earn it, to be able to prove herself. Insert for 2x10.


AN: So after watching Wednesday's night episode and having so many different feels about Octavia, I got this idea and it just wouldn't leave me along and thus, this was born. And of course because Octavia is my favorite, I just had to write it.

Dislcaimer: Obviously, I don't own anything to do with the 100.

* * *

Warrior

She hugs her brother tightly after embracing Lincoln. These are the two most important people in her life and she may never see them again. She knows she shouldn't be thinking like this but there's that small part of her that can't help it. Especially considering she's almost lost both of them at one point or another and now they're walking into a death trap on Clarke's command.

"Be safe, big brother," she says into Bellamy's neck before she pulls back.

She shares one more glance with both of them before they turn to leave. She has no choice but to stand there and watch as they walk past the guards and through the gate.

She finds Clarke out of the corner of her eye, standing next to Lexa a few feet away. Octavia scoffs – of course she wouldn't even care enough to say goodbye. She barely cares enough as it is - if Clarke did, she wouldn't have sent Bellamy off like this.

Octavia takes a deep breath when she can no longer see their retreating figures and turns away.

* * *

She tends to keep to herself once Bellamy and Lincoln leave. She can't bring herself to be around them – especially not Clarke. She feels a bit unstable and she doesn't want to do something she'll regret later.

Deep down she knows Clarke is only doing what she feels is best, but that doesn't mean that Octavia has to agree with it. Or like it. In fact she thinks Clarke is dumb for suggesting it but she has to have faith that Bellamy can protect himself. That Lincoln can too. That they can come home to her – maybe bruised and battered but home nonetheless.

For the most part, she stands on the sidelines and watches at the grounders fight each other. Training, becoming stronger for their battle against mount weather. She feels useless just standing around so when Indra asks who's next, she steps up.

She wants to train, to fight. She wants to be ready when the moment comes - if it has to come to her saving Bellamy, Lincoln or the 47. She wants to prove that she's not the basket case raised under the floor like most of the adults probably see her as.

She walks over and stands next to Indra. "We're supposed to train together, right?"

Indra doesn't look at her. "Only warriors train here."

Octavia turns her head. "I saved your life."

"And now I'm saving yours."

Octavia brushes the comment away and walks away. For now. She's not going to give up – she's not going to let it go. She's sick and tired of everyone treating her like a child – like she can't do anything.

She can prove herself, one way or another.

* * *

She sits on a cot in the medical tent. She feels like shit. Her head's pounding, she feels a little dizzy and her whole body aches. Then again, she did just get her ass kicked.

She had refused to give up, even when Indra told her not too. She kept pushing. And yeah, she may have lost in a fight with a full grown grounder man who's been training for years – but she didn't give up. And she feels a tinge of accomplishment at that.

Even if she may regret it in the morning with all the aches and pains she has. She tilts her head from side to side and rubs her left shoulder– trying to work some of the kinks out.

Out of the corner of her eye, she see Indra making her way towards her. She sighs. Indra is the last person she really wants to see right now.

"What do you want?" Octavia asks, wanting to just get this conversation over with.

"You fought like a child today," Indra basically scolds her. "It was all aggression with no thought or defense. You left yourself open and revealing your next move before you made it."

"I know, I got my ass kicked. That should make you happy," she tells Indra when the grounder enters the tent.

Indra waits a moment before she responds. "It does. Because you did not give up."

Octavia feels a little taken aback by her words and glances up at her. She always thought Indra hated her – like she hated all of the sky people.

Indra takes a seat on the table next to her. "Do you know what a warrior's second is?"

Octavia looks over at Indra. "Apprentice."

"I can make you a great warrior, Octavia of the sky people," Indra says. "If you are willing to do what it takes to become my second."

This wasn't the direction she thought this conversation was going to take. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't surprised. She tilts her head. "What's in it for you?" she can't help but ask because this is Indra and she never does anything unless it benefits her as well.

"First lesson; never question me," Indra says before she stands up and starts to make her way out of the medical tent.

"Wait," Octavia says, stopping the grounder in her tracks. "I'm in," she finds herself saying.

Indra acknowledges her with a nod before she turns and walks out of the medical tent. Octavia feels a small smile tugging at the edges of her lips. For the first time in a while, she finally feels like she can _belong, _like she's finally being accepted_._ Octavia feels like she can make something of herself.

* * *

"I see you're making friends," Kane observes after the grounder she lost the fight against makes that comment as he gives her a plate of food.

Octavia knows Kane wants something – she can see it in his eyes every time he walks around her. He's trying too hard to be around her to not want something in return. "What do you want from me?"

"You've earned the grounders respect," Kane says, getting to the point. "I need you to be my eyes and ears."

She glances up at him, not believing what she's hearing. As if he really expects her to do anything he asks her to. "You're asking me to be a spy?"

"I'm asking you to look out for your people," Marcus tells her.

She mentally rolls her eyes. She stares straight at him as she replies. "I am."

She stands up from her perch on the overturned log and turns on her heel. She doesn't care for anything Kane tried to get her to agree to. She's not going to spy on the grounders just because the former chancellor asks her too. And she's sure as hell isn't going to consider anyone who came down on the ark, her people because they're not. They never were and they're never going to be.

The list of the people she cares about is very short. Bellamy, Lincoln, Clarke and the 47. In that order. She doesn't care about the people who were the reason she was forced to live under the floor for sixteen years of her life. She doesn't care about the ones who floated her mother, who locked her up just for being born. She doesn't trust the people of the ark.

The list of people she respects is a little bit longer; it includes most of the grounders. Which is why when she leaves Kane alone, she walks over and kneels next to Indra. She's slowly gaining respect for the grounder – especially since Octavia know she has it in return.

She doesn't expect training to become Indra's second is going to be easy. But she doesn't want easy – she doesn't want things handed to her. She wants to earn it, to be able to prove herself.


End file.
